The Next Stevie G...?

Captain Fantastic

It has often been said over the last 10 years that Liverpool have been driven by their talismanic captain, Steven Gerrard, and that without him the team would be nothing. Phrases such as "One-Man Team" are regularly used to describe Liverpool's perceived lack of strength in depth.

In the past this type of saying would be altered to include another star man, such as Fernando Torres or more recently Luis Suarez. The media and opposing fans would be quick to state that without Gerrard and Torres/Suarez, Liverpool would be a very ordinary team indeed.

Reds fans have always defended the team by saying that there are other players who make key contributions as well, such as Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, and so on. These rebuttles carried solid arguments, as the spine of the Liverpool team usually formed quite a formiddable force, hence why the Reds finished in the top 5 every year from 2000 until 2009.

At the age of 32, Gerrard is now enterring the twilight of his career, with perhaps another 3 or 4 good years left in him (unless he manages to follow the example set by Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes). And so, the question that Liverpool FC need to answer is: who can replace Steven Gerrard?